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If the finer details are improved this could be a fantastic hotel.

Arrival into Liverpool Lime Street and the taxi journey was very quick - a few minutes at most so a very convenient location (also only a few minutes from Liverpool One shopping centre). Check in was quick and efficient.

The room itself was adequate; the carpet looked a bit marked in places, which was surprising given how new the hotel was and the minibar selection was a bit limited if you wanted an alcoholicdrinbut fine otherwise. The bed was comfortable and there is both aircon and a window that can be opened.

As there is no free wi-fi (which I would expect for the room rate in a modern hotel) I chose the TV package that included broadband through a cable so that I could watch a movie too. However I could not get the connection to work so I watched a film instead and put out my door tag to order breakfast for the following morning.

The following morning no breakfast arrived so I picked up the phone to call down and find out what had happened. No dialling tone so I gave up. Later I wandered down to reception and told them I had not received my breakfast and received an apology and was told they would ensure I received it the following morning. I also told the Receptionist that the phone was not working and neither was the internet, which I thought could be related and was told it was so I was given the access code for wi-fi, which I thought would therefore be complementary, having already added the TV package to my bill that I could not receive full service from. I also expected that someone may be sent to check the phone line but no-one ever came so presumably the problem won't be rectified for the next guest,

In the evening I ate in the restaurant, the food was very nice but a bit over-priced. The area is quite modern and not very cosy or atmospheric but perfectly adequate.

The following morning my breakfast arrived as ordered and was not exactly gourmet but met the description (although a bit more butter would have been appreciated as the slices of toast were large).

On checking out I found that they were trying to charge me for both the TV bundle and the wi-fi, this was quickly rectified and the Receptionist ordered me a taxi. On checking the bill more closely in the taxi I found that I had been charged the £3 room service fee for breakfasts on both days, despite never having received it on the first day and notifying staff of this, which rather added insult to injury!

Summary is that this hotel is in an ideal location and is modern and clean but some of the service elements do let it down, particularly for the room rate.

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We managed to have a lovely stay here, and the hotel enhanced the experience.

My husband was after having a weekend away for his 30th. We couldn't really afford to do it by paying for it, so we instead decided to cash in our airmiles from our credit card to go, and we picked 2 nights at this hotel in Liverpool.

We have never visited Liverpool before, so for us, this was a good choice of hotel as it was in the centre of the City, and from the quick look online we did, it was near plenty of restaurants, bars, and attractions in the city, as well as being a fairly decent 4 star hotel.

We booked a double room, and this was more than adequate for our needs. It had a large double bed, and also had a sofa bed in the room. This was a great addition to the room, as the weather was quite wet and we stayed in the room quite a bit, and it helped make it seem more pleasant. There was a shower room containing a shower and wash basin, and a separate toilet room. We had a mini-bar and safe in the room, as well as a flat screen television on the wall, with access to the usual broadband, rental films that you can get in a good hotel. We didn't use the mini-bar contents as they were quite pricy - £3.50 for a small 330ml can of lager, or £2.50 for a soft drink. £1.25 for a mars bar. We did however have use of the fridge for our purchases from the Tesco central that was just across the road. ;-)

Check in to the hotel was at 2pm, and checkout was at 12pm. This was very suitable for us and we managed to make the most of our stay because we used all the facilities on the check out day as well.

There is a small gym, steam room and pool in the basement of the hotel. It had a few basic machines. Cross trainer, exercise bike, ab trimmer, and some weights. We didn't use in here, but could see it through a window from the pool and it looked clean and adequate. The pool was quite small, and not overly warm, but even when busy was ok for a bit of a dip rather than a serious swim. The steam room was our favourite bit. It was quite dark in there as it was lit by small fibre optic lights. It had a couple of benches in there so could accomadate probably 6 people if they were friendly, and it was a very good facility. The only let down to this part of the site was there were only 2 changing cubicles. They were quite large rooms which could accomadate the families using them in terms of size, but there was no baby change facility if you needed it. The lockers were also poor, with most of them failing to lock. Not a huge problem as we didn't have a lot of stuff, but not secure to leave your key card for your room.

The bar and restaurant were well staffed. There were a lot of foreign staff - chinese, polish and french, but all spoke excellent English and were very proficient in their service.

The only meal we ate there was breakfast. This was a buffet, so once you had signed in and been seated you could help yourself to whatever food you wanted and get pots of tea and coffee from the waiting staff. There was an excellent choice of food at this meal. A hot buffet served a full cooked breakfast, including hash browns, scrambled or fried eggs, fried bread, black pudding, sausages, bacon and mushrooms. You could also toast your own bread. There was also a choice of fresh fruit (melon, strawberries, bananas), fruit juices, cereal and various pastries. All was well cooked and very tasty. We ate so much we didn't need to eat much all day afterwards. There was a menu on every table detailing what was available and the calorie count. After a quick glance i decided to avoid this bit as it was a treat, so i didn't want to spoil it by knowing the calorie count.

The lobby was equipped with 2 computers that anyone could use for free, and an x-box and some toys for younger children. I thought this was a very nice touch if you were there with young children as a lot of families were.

The hotel is brilliant if you are new to the area. It is not somewhere i would go with very young children as i mentioned the lack of changing facilites and also the room did not have a bath, but otherwise it was very geared up for older kids. I'd definitely recommend it and go again myself.